Mt Pleasant Youth City Council loves chance to sit on floor of Legislature and visit Gold Room

 

By Doug Lowe

Staff writer

2-27-2020

 

MT. PLEASANT—Members of the Mt. Pleasant Youth City Council (YCC) got a look at the Utah House of Representatives in session and even got to sit in the Gold Room at the Capitol last week.

The teens took an overnight trip to the Utah Legislature in Salt Lake City on Feb.18 and 19.

Upon returning home, YCC Mayor Scott Shock talked about the “great opportunity to sit with Rep. Derrin Owens on the floor of the Utah House of Representatives while it was in session.”

Devin Palmer, mayor pro tem, called the visit “a great experience” and thanked his uncle, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, for giving the group so much of his time.

Coleen Oltrogge, the YCC advisor and a former city council member spoke in glowing terms of the “privilege to take the YCC to the Capitol every year.”

A highlight of the trip was when the group was admitted to the Gold Room and sat around a big, beautiful table where the highest level visitors to our state are hosted.

YCC member Haley Jensen was particularly impressed with “being able to go into the Gold Room.”

It is “really cool that we have a gold-plated room at the Capitol,” Daniel Boekweg said.

And, Josh Thompson said, “It was amazing to see it and sit there.”

Summing up his experience, Levi Palmer said, “I loved this opportunity to see the State Capitol.”

And Keenan Schumann described the visit as “a great experience for me” after which he thanked Mt. Pleasant City, Coleen Oltregge and Charlene Palmer, another adult chaperone,for making it apossible.

After the trip, Oltrogge expressed her thanks to the mayor and city council for the “great thing they are doing” by sponsoring a Youth City Council and making it possible for the youth to “go and experience how decisions are made for our state.”

She also expressed the hope that more Sanpete cities and towns will establish youth city councils and youth town boards so more young can have opportunity “to serve and learn about government first hand.”